folk

Czech national motto in this folk-punk picture of mine. (Pencil. Water colours. 2013)

A pair of Ukrainian Easter eggs I've made. My designs are not especially traditional and are instead inspired by old wood cut art. The first egg features a musician playing a bandura and the second has 4 pictures, fish, forest, wheat and mountains. The eggs are made using beeswax applied with a metal tool called a Kistka (heated via a candle or electricity) you draw on the egg wherever you want to preserve its current colour before putting it into a dye bath working from the lightest colours to the darkest. When you have finished you remove the wax using a candle a paper towel and a little patience. heating and wiping away. then you can blow out your egg by making a hole in its top and bottom, smashing the yolk with a needle and blowing. These eggs are a couple of years old but we've pulled them out for easter last weekend.

This happens if you try to keep the tradition despite knowing them. (Pencil. Water colours. 2012)

Humphrey Bo(g)gart

Take tender care of yourself.

Painting practice, playing with building and limiting my color palette. It's hard to do anything right now other than play with gouache.

Devil's coach horse beetle. British folklore has it that a beetle has eaten the core of Eve's apple, and that a person who crushes such beetle is forgiven seven sins. Poor beetles! https://www.instagram.com/p/CTNru1QLEpY/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Folk art style.

I did gift art for AverageEarthFolk on DA. Nutmeg is an upcoming character in his webcomic, Stuck In Web Dev(Hell)opment (https://www.stuckindevhellopment.com/)

Who is Gault ? See link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzyJOln6GqE&t=935s

This artwork started as a doodle. I love chaos & i love the freedom to meander endlessly w a pencil. However i also like 2 have a 'Conversation' w viewers. So to encourage this i often 'name' the doodle. Suddenly by defining the scribble it almost gives folks permission to comment & offer their perspective & input. Luckily i am not swayed either way w this conversation but i do love a forum for ideas & this usually turns into even more optimistic exercises allowing me to continue discovering the unknown & undrawn. Quite frankly i am lucky since i can draw & create any reality i choose... for me the visual possibilities r truly endless. Yep, Eternity is the limit.

Whenever i hear the word 'graphic' on the news, my mind goes to art rather than the abrupt visual they feel needs a warning [Which i guess is a courtesy for some folks who just might not be able to handle such a site & prefer to look away.] Well, luckily, I'm not Pollyanna about this... As a creative, it is nearly impossible to hear that word 'graphic' & not flex my creative muscle & treat it w an alternative visual thot... 24/6! [I take Sundays off.] I was never fortunate enuf to attend college or to study graphic arts. But I actually think that this is a skill & craft of immense talent. To create aesthetic colors & shapes & beauty & what seems like using the most simplistic of techniques yet w the greatest of impact is simply mesmerizing to me. Why that color? Why that shape? & yet... it works!!!! So here is my attempt to simulate such a masterful profession but w a bit of humor.

"Whirlwind 22”, an original drawing. Micron pens on archival paper. Size: 4” x 6”. Title, signature, and date in the back of the drawing. This drawing is the 22nd in a series of drawings posted over a period of 100 days. The original post date on this drawing was September 22, 2020.

"Whirlwind 18”, an original drawing. Micron pens on archival paper. Size: 5” x 7”. Title, signature, and date in the back of the drawing. This drawing is the 18th in a series of drawings posted over a period of 100 days. The original post date on this drawing was September 18, 2020.

A piece I created via a Skillshare class. It’s folk art inspired.

The croaky old folkie! This guy was responsible for some of the best music in the 60's. Done in ink one afternoon.

The word prompt was "Teeth" and I used the Zentangle pattern "Itch" for the scales on the dragon. This picture sums up the (bad?) advice given to us Anxiety ridden folks - "Focus on one thing at a time." Yeh, how's that working for you?

Be Hold the Lamb of God Medium: Acrylic on canvas size:11”x12” Date 2019-2020 Artist: Stephen J. Vattimo This illustration is done for a mural portraying the earthly ministry of Jesus the Christ. This is number 8, out of 9 illustraitions. This illustration portrays Jesus after he dies on the cross. Biblical reference : Mark 15 : 33-39 33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).[b] 35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.” 36 Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said. 37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. 38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died,[c] he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” In doing my research : I found out that the crown of thorns might have been a cap, than a wreath. I t is my opinion that Mel Gibson’s portrayal of the brutality the Roman soldier inflicted on the body of Jesus, through the beatings and the 39 lashes with the cat of nine tails. This event was never visually captured in arts, until he made his movie The Passion of the Christ. Many don’t know what a cat of nine tales is, Roman style. A cat of nine tails are nine leather strap that are woven together at the handle. Each strap is laced with bone and other sharp objects. With each lash, flesh would be ripped from the victim’s body. Most of the illustration I have seen of the crucifixion of Jesus where quite sterile. They fail to illustrate the brutality. Their image of Jesus looks more like an under wear modal doing a photo shoot fore GQ magazine, Then the savor having the wrath of God being pored on his body for the payment of our sins. In this painting, I am place my viewer in the soldiers shoes, who just witnessed Jesus committing His spirit into God’s hands. Just as the soldier pondered the event he participated in , and looking into the face of Jesus, he proclaims, this man was truly the Son of God. Written by Stephen J. Vattimo 7/20/2020

Seem to be going in a different path these days. Will get back to my folk art soon enough but hope you all like. Feedback appreciated

The Fifth and final Joyful Mystery: The Finding of Jesus in the Temple. Young Jesus is so cool, can you just immagine all the wisdom and grace pouring out of him at Nazareth? "That kid is amazing!" the temple elders and priests probably said but they had no idea how amazing he actually is, because he's God! Super power packed! lol Luke Chapter 2: 40-52 40 And the child grew, and waxed strong, full of wisdom; and the grace of God was in him. 41 And his parents went every year to Jerusalem, at the solemn day of the pasch, 42 And when he was twelve years old, they going up into Jerusalem, according to the custom of the feast, 43 And having fulfilled the days, when they returned, the child Jesus remained in Jerusalem; and his parents knew it not. 44 And thinking that he was in the company, they came a day's journey, and sought him among their kinsfolks and acquaintance. 45 And not finding him, they returned into Jerusalem, seeking him. 46 And it came to pass, that, after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them, and asking them questions. 47 And all that heard him were astonished at his wisdom and his answers. 48 And seeing him, they wondered. And his mother said to him: Son, why hast thou done so to us? behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. 49 And he said to them: How is it that you sought me? did you not know, that I must be about my father's business? 50 And they understood not the word that he spoke unto them. 51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them. And his mother kept all these words in her heart. 52 And Jesus advanced in wisdom, and age, and grace with God and men.

The Factions had become strong, but were not strong enough, they tried to help their areas, but establishing a new government in a post-apocalypse is harder than it may seem. The Knights Faction, in its quest to slay the remaining dragons of the Fae Forest, and in an attempt to secure more supplies in the beautiful and bountiful region. A force of knights, mainly human, staged a takeover, violently taking from the elven folks of the forest villages, shortly after the negotiations failed. The elves were sad to lose so much land to the war effort of the humans. Some elves joined with the modernizing society of humans, and others stayed and tried to fight back against the growing human population and demand for more land. Elven oppression became an issue to a few people, who now fought for Faere Rights. A Lich Queen rose from the fallen elven lands and vowed revenge. She banned together the downtrodden races of Orcs and Goblins . Using intense gene meddling and tampering, the Lich Queen mutated the Orcs into a new breed of fighting beasts called Ogres. Alongside this, the Trolls were created. Trolls were an artificial life-form designed for battle, possessing great strength but being having very little brains. War. Another war . The Great Faere War .

The mouth of god.

Gobbins be like

and now, a short poem: "I am so close to the edge, I could just take a step, and leave this lonely world behind" ... thank you, and now back to our regularly scheduled fear-mongering and brain-washing, yay!

Sketches of merfolk for #MerMay

Brush with black ink and white acrylic paint on 9” X 12” acid free Strathmore Bristol smooth surface paper. The Image dimensions are about 5 1/2” X 8 ½. Signed and dated. (The black ink was used for the character as well as for the background. The acrylic painting was used only for the small shapes in the background)

Sower and the Seed This painting illustrates the parable “The Sower and the Seed,” a teaching of Jesus recorded in the book of Matthew chapter 13. The four hearts in the sky represent four different responses of those who hear the Gospel message. The heart on the lower left represents those who have heard the gospel but reject it. The devil then comes and takes it away from their hearts. This is illustrated by the crows flying away with the seed that fell on the road side. The second heart on the upper left side of the sky represents those who receive the gospel message with joy, but it doesn’t take root in their faith, and their faith is temporal, falling away when trials or affliction come their way because of the gospel. This is illustrated by a grape vine withering away in the heat of the day due to a lack of a deep root system. The heart in the upper right corner of the sky represents those who received the gospel and believe, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. This is illustrated by the grapevine being choked out by a purple, flower-bearing, climbing, strangling vine called, morning glory. These vines produce pretty flowers, but they are an organic farmer’s enemy because they will choke out his crops. I learned this firsthand in organic farming when I was a missionary for a couple of summers. The heart in the lower right corner of the sky represents those who hear, believe, and are committed to living for the gospel, so they produce much fruit. This is illustrated by a healthy, strong, fruit-bearing grapevine. The tilled field represents the world that God has prepared to receive the Gospel message. The sower represents all Christians that are commanded to go into the world and proclaim the gospel message. The seed being thrown by the sower represents the gospel message going out to the world. The seed bag has written on it, “The Word Seed Co.” (October 28, 2017)